


The Day Came, We Waited for a Signal

by the_actual_letter_n



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Gen, I really don't know what this is, Other characters mentioned - Freeform, Wartime, be the pokemon angst you wanna see in the world, blind!Steven, nothing graphic but there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-02
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-30 18:15:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6435094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_actual_letter_n/pseuds/the_actual_letter_n
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When war erupts, all are called to burn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Day Came, We Waited for a Signal

'You shouldn't be allowed here,' Juan says the second he enters. 

Two tiny figures stand stiffly in the very middle of the large, circular room, fists clenched, round chins raised in defiance. Tate and Liza stare down the much taller Brawly, whose head shoots up when he hears Juan speak.

'Get them out,' he almost pleads.

'No!' Tate shouts, his voice cracking at a pubescent peak. 'We are as much Gym Leaders as all of you are!'

'We deserve to be here,' his sister joins in, more quietly. 'We were called.'

The conference room of the Hoenn Pokemon League is more crowded than it was in a very long time. There is rarely a need to gather all of the Leaders together like that, not for so long, not at the same time. Everyone is there - Wallace and Winona, close together, whispering to each other; Norman, leaning at a wall with his arms crossed and an indecipherable expression on his face; Wattson, disturbingly somber, sitting hunched over with his arm around the trembling Flannery, and Roxanne, pacing around the standing three, throwing nervous glances at Brawly with every attempt he makes at reasoning with the twins.

They all look up when Juan comes in, but he isn't the one they await and he knows it. However, there's still a brief flash of relief in their eyes, seeing someone who might provide them with more information.

Kids, he realizes. They're all kids.

'Liza, you're both too young for this,' he says, shaking his head. The girl takes a breath, but he continues: 'I know how you feel, but this shouldn't be allowed. You shouldn't be here.'

'Meowthshit!' Tate cries out again. 'We have the right to know what's going on! We are Gym Leaders! We have the right to...'

'You do,' Juan cuts in softly, raising his hands to calm him down. 'But this isn't an informational meeting. This is different.'

'So it's true,' Roxanne says suddenly, her voice completely devoid of emotion. She doesn't stop pacing.

All eyes turn to Juan again. The air becomes stiff with silence for a moment, as he gathers his thoughts, looking over their faces. They're all different patterns of the same mask, different ways to express one feeling.

Fear.

'I don't know,' he answers finally. The tension drops, but the fear remains. 'I spoke with the Elite Four. They haven't heard from anyone abroad, the channel through Sinnoh is broken. They've called the gates closest to the borders, told them to wait for further information.'

'What about the president?' Roxanne asks in the same professional monotone. Her voice shouldn't sound so calm. She's a teacher, not an actress.

'Still no word. They've been talking for hours, there should be...'

The door opens again and everyone falls silent, as Steven Stone walks in, surrounded by the low hum of the two Bronzong slowly circling his ankles. He stops a few steps into the room and stays still for a few seconds, listening, counting the individual breaths in the room.

'Are Tate and Liza here?' he asks.

'We are,' they answer in unison and Brawly takes a breath, but stays quiet, as Steven turns towards the voice.

'Thank you for coming, Juan,' he says, after a moment of silence. 'I know you're not technically a Gym Leader, but...' he doesn't finish. Juan doesn't need him to.

'Steven, what's going on?' Brawly speaks up, his voice still not as strong as he would like it to be. 'We've been here for ages and no-one's telling us nothing. Where are we standing?'

Steven takes a deep breath and walks forward, stepping into the middle of the room. For a short while, the hum of his Bronzong is the only audible sound.

'I talked to the president,' he says eventually. Juan doesn't see fear in his face, or his unseeing, bloodshot eyes. Just bitterness and a deep, deep sadness. 'As of midnight, we are officially at war with Kanto.'

The room around him collapses. Roxanne stops in her tracks; Flannery freezes and hides her face in her hands. Juan feels his heart slowly sink.

'There are orders for the Gym Leaders to organize drafts for trainers in their home cities,' the Champion continues, his voice growing more hoarse with each word. 'You are to gather the defense forces for each city and...' 

He stops and his jaw tightens. Juan walks up to him and places a hand on his shoulder. Steven starts at the sudden touch, but relaxes, when he recognizes the smell of the older man's extravagant perfume. 

'... And report to the Battle Frontier Tower for mission debrief.'

'Debrief,' Roxanne repeats. 'Does that mean...' her monotone cracks and suddenly she's no longer a renowned scholar. She's a schoolgirl.

'We're being sent out,' Brawly says hollowly. 'Into battle.'

Flannery curls up and sobs, as Wattson pulls her closer to him and shuts his eyes tight. Winona stands up abruptly, gripping Wallace's hand in her own and points the other one at the door.

'You,' she barks, piercing Tate and Liza with her shrouded eyes. 'Out.'

'No way!' Tate shrieks, but this time there isn't a crack in his voice. 'We're going to go anywhere any of you go!'

'We have a duty,' Liza backs him up with a dangerous purple glint in her eye.

Brawly looks between them and the Fortree Leader, but he grits his teeth and quickly walks up to Steven's side.

'Tell them,' he pleads. 'They're twelve, for Mew's sake.'

The Champion doesn't move, his eyes turned down, his face a pale, rigid mask.  
'There are orders,' he says slowly, through clenched teeth. 'There are orders for everyone.'

Brawly's fist flashes in the air, sending Steven to the ground. Flannery cries out; Winona and Norman shoot forward, catching Brawly by the arms and pulling him back.

'Calm down!' the woman screams, struggling to keep a hold of him. 'This doesn't help!'

'They're kids!' he bellows, breaking away from her, only to be grabbed again by Wallace. 'They're kids, you cursed bastard! Let go!'

Juan helps Steven up, putting an arm around his shoulder, as the Bronzong circle his feet, humming in different tones to show him the place to stand. The Champion doesn't wipe away the thin trickle of blood from his split lip, nor does he make any attempt to move away from the raging Leader. He just stands there, eyes still turned to the floor, one hand gripping tight at Juan's shoulder. He waits until Brawly settles down, panting, and says:

'We can't afford an incomplete team. Kanto's sending in everyone.'

Everyone. 

Juan remembers visiting Vermilion City, Surge showing him the modernized port and all the improvements to his gym. His heart freezes, when he imagines his old friend in a uniform again, after finding so much relief in a life of peace. He can see the others remembering too - Roxanne pestering Blaine for the Pokemon Lab research; Wallace admiring Erika's flower arrangements; the carefree, young friendship between Flannery and Misty. They are all remembering the faces they will now see below a hat with a foreign emblem.

In the heavy silence, Wattson speaks up:

'What about the kid?'

Norman suddenly freezes, letting Brawly's arm jerk away from his grip. They both turn to Steven, who squeezes Juan's shoulder even tighter.

'May is...' the Champion swallows and closes his eyes. 'May is one of our strongest trainers. She's being sent into the front line.'

Norman's knees buckle underneath him. Brawly tries to hold him up, but he falls to the floor, his breath short and jagged. Winona kneels down next to him and puts her arm around him, as his collapsed form starts to shake violently.

Juan puts his hand on Steven's, still gripping the sleeve of his coat.

'What about you?' he asks quietly. 'Nobody expects you to go out. You can stay with Tucker and Spenser, work from the sidelines.'

'I'm going,' the Champion says in a hoarse, tired voice. 'If they're going in there, then I will be leading them.'

'Steven, they might not let you.'

'I'm the Champion,' he states, straightening his back. He runs a hand through his silver hair and briefly touches the shimmering stone in the clip on his jacket. 'I'm the one doing the letting. Those kids need me, and I'm gonna be there for them.'

'Kids,' Juan repeats. To him, they are all kids. 'I don't think you will be seeing many kids for a very long time, Steven.'

***

He was always seen where the fire was thickest, they would later say. The Champion Steven Stone, stood tall on the back of a Metagross, two Bronzong always circling his feet, a Skarmory calling out targets above his head. He was there when Lilicove City fell, his steel Pokemon forming a wall around the museum where the civilians had fled. He was at the Battle Frontier, where the enemy believed the president to be stationed, when the strike team of water Pokemon drowned the island and Frontier Brain Anabel disappeared in the waves, clearing the way for a ship filled with Pokemon.

When the president of Hoenn announced a shift to the offensive, he was leading the very first wave of trainers, landing in Vermilion City in the dead of the night. When the city's trainers, organized better than they should have been in such a short time, faced them at the very shore, he was on the front line, his Mega Evolved Pokemon casting steel shadows over their enemies.

When he was shot dead by a stray bullet from a teenage girl's old handgun, his role of the Strike Force Leader was taken over by Wallace. The next wave of soldiers was led to Celadon City.

**Author's Note:**

> Also known as "don't let N write at 2am while sad". Written a while ago when I had an even weaker grasp of writing in English, so it's not as good as I'd like it to be, but I thought I should publish it one day or another, so there we go.
> 
> Title taken from the song "170" by Kaizers Orchestra.


End file.
